When the school year started in September, Garfield principal Ted Howard was allegedly told by a leader of the Deuce 8 street gang, “When your kids cross the street,” the stranger said, “they’re mine.”

That man, Eric Sanford, has been charged in federal court with illegally possessing a Ruger 9 mm semiautomatic, which Seattle police say they discovered during a traffic stop in November. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vincent Lombardi described the scene outside Garfield in federal court earlier this year.

On Oct. 31, Quincy Coleman and another 15-year-old were shot near Garfield. Coleman died at the scene.

On Dec. 16, former high school basketball star Donnie Cheatham was shot in the face on Garfield Community Center property.

That night, police were told to be on the lookout for a suspect with ties to a notorious South Seattle gang and were “advised to stay on the alert for suspicious gang activity due to the increased possibility of gang retaliation from Central District gang members,” according to a report.

Police sources have said Coleman’s shooting was gang-related. No arrests have been made in any of the shootings.

In another incident, three men were arrested Friday on suspicion of being involved in a Central District shooting. Gang Unit detectives were investigating the incident, in which officers were called to the 2300 block of South Jackson Street. Read more here.